Scotland · Self-guided walk
Edinburgh in one walk 8 sights, 35 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Edinburgh Old Town: 8 sights on one 2.5 km loop, about 35 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 2.5 km, a loop
- Time
- about 35 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- St Giles' Cathedral
- Steps
- on Roxburgh Court, Warriston's Close, Tron Square
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Edinburgh walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Edinburgh, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. St Giles' Cathedral
the start
Get out into the square and look at the top of the tower. The stonework is cut into the shape of a crown, held there by eight thin ribs of stone leaning in from the corners. Once you have seen that, you will pick this roof out from every rise in town. It sits square in the middle of the level, so you meet it whether you planned to or not.
Next: Scott Monument, 450 m, about 7 min, along Warriston's Close, Princes Street.
2. Scott Monument
about 7 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Sun 10:00–21:00
A spire built as a roof over one seated man, and gone almost black with age. Inside, a stair screws up to a balcony near the top and tightens every floor, so the last leg is an honest squeeze. From the pavement the thing only reads as tall. It is more than tall.
Next: National Gallery, 240 m, about 4 min.
3. National Gallery
about 10 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Wed 10:00–17:00, Thu 10:00–19:00, Fri–Sun 10:00–17:00
It sits in the ditch between the two towns, with a bank of earth heaped up behind it and a road running over the top. The way to it from the ridge is a long flight of steps, and the columns come at you edge on for the entire descent. Free to walk into, which is the correct price for a roof.
Next: Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, 370 m, about 5 min, along The Mound, Mound Place, Ramsay Lane.
4. Camera Obscura & World of Illusions
about 16 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Sun 08:00–22:00
The last address before the esplanade, and the one you keep nearly walking by on the way up. The roof is open and railed the whole way round, so the town arrives from every direction at once, right at the point where the ridge gives out and the rock takes over. Best seat at the top of the level.
Next: Central Library, 280 m, about 4 min, along Castlehill, Upper Bow, Victoria Street.
5. Central Library
about 20 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Wed 10:00–20:00, Thu–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun closed
Read the words cut over the door before you push it. Then push it: you come in at the top floor and the reading rooms drop away underneath you, because the whole thing is hung on the flank of the ridge. Warm, quiet and free, which for this much floor is nearly indecent.
Next: Greyfriars Kirk, 210 m, about 3 min, along George IV Bridge.
6. Greyfriars Kirk
about 23 minutes of walking from the start
The best of it is outdoors. A high wall runs right round the yard, the level inside is a storey above the lane in places, and the carved slabs set along that wall are worth a slow lap. It is the quietest half acre on this hill, and it is two minutes from the loudest.
Next: National Museum of Scotland, 190 m, about 3 min, along Chambers Street.
7. National Museum of Scotland
about 26 minutes of walking from the start
Two buildings, one door. The hall on your left is iron and glass and full of daylight; the block on your right is pale sandstone with slots for windows and a drum at the corner. Nobody meant them to be neighbours. Go up as far as the stairs will carry you: there is a terrace on the roof, and the ridge you have been eating lies out flat beneath it.
Next: St Cecilia's Hall, 300 m, about 5 min, along Chambers Street, South Bridge.
Lunch break
Noodles Home, 12 Nicolson Street, about 150 m off the route, open Mon–Sun 12:00–21:30.
Nicolson Street, a few minutes south of the ridge and a world away from it. More on what to eat in Edinburgh.
8. St Cecilia's Hall
about 31 minutes of walking from the start
Very easy to miss. From the lane it is a flat grey corner with one door in it, and everything worth having is indoors: rank on rank of old keyboards, several of them older than the walls holding them. You have to leave the ridge and drop into the valley to reach it, which is exactly why most people never do.
Back to the start: St Giles' Cathedral, 430 m, about 6 min, along Cowgate, Tron Square, High Street.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Edinburgh.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 170 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Edinburgh Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.